Plantar Fasciitis Stretches

For many years, medical and fitness professionals alike have debated the effectiveness of stretching to help decrease chance of injury. So before we jump straight into some simple plantar fasciitis stretches and tips for healing plantar fasciitis, we really need to address whether or not stretching is necessary, effective and should you stretch a cold or warm muscle.

First let’s take a look at whether you should stretch a warm or cold muscle. This debate has been raging on for years, and I receive so many emails about this that I think it’s time we put this issue to rest. The simplest way to explain this is to give you an analogy.

What’s the first thing you do when you try to blow up a balloon? You stretch it right. Why do you stretch the balloon? Because it makes it easier to blow up. When you stretch the balloon, you are actually warming up the balloon and it becomes more elastic. This increase in elasticity improves the range and volume of the balloon. The same thing applies to stretching a muscle. When your muscle is cold, your range of motion is limited. Stretching a cold muscle is dangerous and you could make your injury even worse or create a new one! Always stretch a warm muscle, you have a larger range of motion which makes stretching easier.

So how does this apply to plantar fasciitis stretching? When it comes to plantar fasciitis, the majority of sufferers think that you need to just stretch out the bottom of your foot because this is where your pain is located. Not so fast. The cause of your plantar fasciitis could actually be further up the kinetic chain. What I mean by the kinetic chain is that you could have a muscle imbalance or problem further up from your foot all the way up to your glutes.

If you have tight glutes, hamstrings, calves or an Achilles tendon problem, this could be a contributing factor to your plantar fasciitis pain. Stretches for the glutes, hamstrings and calves will be addressed in another post but it’s important for you to know that you should look past your foot if you are to truly recover from plantar fasciitis.

Simple Plantar Fasciitis Stretches

The Rolling Can/Ball – Stretch/Exercise

This simple plantar fasciitis stretch and exercise is extremely effective when you first get out of bed in the morning and should give you some immediate pain relief. Sit on the side of your bed or chair. Place your affected foot on a can or tennis ball. Slowly roll the can or ball under your foot from toes to heel. You should do this exercise/stretch for at least 7 minutes every morning. There is no harm in applying this easy stretch technique to your healthy foot as well to help strengthen your foot fascia and prevent it from suffering the same fate as your other.

Now if you’ve had enough of this nagging and stubborn plantar fasciitis and want to learn how to completely cure your plantar fasciitis using 5 easy-to-follow, step by step techniques from the comfort and convenience of your own home without any special exercise equipment, click on the buttonbelow and let me show you just how easy it is!